(NF) Don't Sing at the Table by Adriana Trigiani

Author:Adriana Trigiani
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2010-01-14T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Sex and Marriage

Viola and Michael on his 50th birthday.

The shoe shop at 5 West Lake Street was a hub during the day, my grandfather repairing shoes, and Lucy sewing for hire. The kids were at school, and vendors would stop in for coffee and chat, and to sell my grandparents supplies. It was a very social work life, made interesting by the characters who frequented the shop.

At night, after supper, the children went to bed, and the Progressive Shoe Shop turned into a social club for my grandfather and his friends. The men played cards, laughed, told jokes, and had a ball. They got loud and raucous, and occasionally the parties went until dawn.

One night, Lucy came down to do some finishing work in her workroom while the card party was happening in the shop. She overheard one of the men saying something off-color about a woman who lived in Chisholm. The men were having a good laugh when Lucy appeared in the doorway. She said plainly to the men, “I will have none of that talk. You are to respect women and their reputations in this building.” And then she left. I can imagine my sheepish grandfather and his buddies, caught in the act.

Lucy did not engage in gossip, nor did she judge anyone’s behavior. She had her standards, but she never imposed them on anyone outside of her family. When it came to her children, she raised them with boundaries to build character, and led them by example.

Lucy was widowed so young that there was certainly an expanse of years to have another romantic relationship. She never did, and she explained why she wouldn’t. Lucy felt that all she had in the world besides her ability to work hard and care for her children was her reputation. She knew, living in a small town, that everything she did would become fodder for conversation and affect her children. She never wanted to be the subject of any conversation she wouldn’t have wanted her children to hear.

You are your good reputation.

When my grandfather died, Lucy took in alterations from the local department store—men’s suits and coats—to earn additional income. The store wanted to send the customers over for fittings. Lucy asked the store to do the measurements there, chalk-mark and pin the garments, and deliver the work to her, and she would return it to them on a timely basis, complete. She did not want to have men in the shop because she felt that it could be construed that she was entertaining men at her place of business. The store happily complied with her wishes because she was the best seamstress around.

Lucy told me, “You only have one reputation. When your good reputation is gone, it’s gone.”

Some wisdom Lucy shared with me about romantic love:

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